Darkness
by Silver Wind-4ever
Summary: Seto Kaiba knows that dealing with a clan as mysterious as the Darkness Clan is a suicide especially to his company, but he reasoned, a simple dinner wouldn't do no harm, or would it?


Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Darkness**

Every family has a skeleton in the cupboard.

**Anonymous**

Proverb.

Does it really matter whose story this is? Every creature on earth deserves to have its story told.

**Ivan Bunin** (1870 - 1953)

Russian novelist and poet.

"Chang's Dreams"

Seto Kaiba, 25, CEO, single, brother to a hyperactive 20 year old, is currently facing a huge dilemma. The dilemma was a short, curt letter inside a clean white envelope that he had torn open with the silver dragon letter opener given to him by his precious little brother Mokuba on his 21st birthday.

His day started as a normal one. Waking up at 6 in the morning in his cold empty bed, on the road on 6:20 and inside his large secretive office at the top of the building at 7:00. Like he is used to, he greeted his secretary with a curt nod and a tense good morning on his black-clad top security officer as the officer opened the door for him. As usual, the officer helped him out of his coat and was given by a nod of gratitude.

Then with another nod, his secretary immediately began debriefing him of his schedule for today, all the while he was starting to boot up his laptop. When his secretary was already finished, she said in a polite tone. "Sir, you have a mail in your desk that had arrived late yesterday. Unfortunately, you're already gone by the time the security officers had finished investigating it." His secretary informed him.

Seto gave her a nod as he picked up the letter and looked at it. "I'll read it in a while." And with a slight wave of his hand, his secretary and his security chief gave him a tense bow before leaving the room.

Investigating the letter, Seto ran his hand over its smooth surface constantly stopping at the edges, noticing that no return address had been written on the letter. He turned it over; noting that it was sealed carefully by wax. Delicately, he opened the letter with long thin fingers and there began his dilemma.

Normally, a mail like this would have directly hit the waste basket within 5 seconds but this mail was a different one. It's not that it was anything peculiar with the other mails that liters his office. It was quite a normal one if you'll look at it. It was a simple white envelope holding another simple white sheet of paper of invitation to another diner and what not. It's content are rather simple, it simply says:

_Dear Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp._

_Greetings,_

_Seto Kaiba, you and your family are cordially invited to a party held at the** Obscurité le Soir, 6 in the evening this Friday.**_

_Please wear formal clothes._

_You and your brother's presence will be greatly appreciated…_

_**Ryou Yami**_

Upon reading the signature of this mysterious letter sender, Seto's breath had been caught in his throat. **Ryou Yami. Yami. **Isn't that the last name of those stupid punks that just recently dared to go against his company? What was their name? Bakuryu and Marco?

And much more stupid were those security officers of his. Why the fuck would they accept a nameless letter, much more from someone as dangerous as the Yami Clan. Seto absentmindedly chewed his lip, rereading the letter one again while contemplating whether he's gonna accept it or not. Heaving out a deep sigh, Seto pressed the intercom button and said to his secretary, "Cancel all my meetings tomorrow after you've called Ryou Yami, tell him that me and my brother are gonna be there tomorrow."

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"Yes, I understand." A thick accented voice answered, after a while the sound of a phone being placed back echoed on the dark long hallway of the Osiris-Diaboundou Mansion. After placing the phone back, the old prim butler of the Yami Clan for half a century now, calmly walked towards the library, ignoring the fact that the hallways and almost all parts of the house was clouded in darkness. Straightening his shoulders and his uniform, Erick McDaniel knocked softly and after receiving a grunt response, he gracefully opened the door and bowed at its occupants.

The youngest of them, Master Ryou Yami is sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace- the only source of light in the room; dark, thick curtains shielded the room from the morning rays of light, shrouding the room in darkness- a thick book in hand. Beside him is his older brother-3 years his senior-, Master Bakura Yami looking intently at the fire as if it holds the answers of the questions that currently plagues his mind. Erick need not to look far to locate the remaining two of the occupants –Marik and Malik, and the weirdest of them all. There stood the two of them, both of them lip locked on each other, hands roaming the other's body. Both never minding the fact that they're not the only ones in this room and that they are… brothers, twins none the less.

Erick cleared his throat to get their attention, one by one like a flower attracted to the sun, the occupants of the room turned their attention to him. He gave them a soft polite smile before walking towards Master Ryou and telling him the news. He bowed before speaking. "Master Ryou, Seto Kaiba's secretary had just recently called. She had informed me that Seto Kaiba together with his brother will be going at the party to be held tomorrow at one of our Hotels."

Ryou smiled at him before closing his book and standing up. "Is it so?" He asked the old butler kindly after stealing a concerned look at his brother. "I'll inform him immediately then." He turned to his brother. "I'll be at my room if you need me." Receiving a curt nod as a response, Ryou silently made his way out of the room.

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A small delicate finger traced the curves of one of the numerous antique phones of the Main Mansion as its owner absentmindedly drank the red colored liquid in the exquisite crystal glass in his hands. He walked over to the wine bar in his room and poured himself another drink. Heaving out a sigh, he placed the cold glass in his forehead already feeling the nauseating effects of his drink as his mind wandered on to the call he had a couple of minutes ago.

He had already received the 'go ahead' sign; his new charade will begin tomorrow. Looking at a small delicate silver frame which holds the picture of him and the few persons he cared about a wave of protectiveness washed through him. Every step he takes, every decision he makes, every thing he did was for all of them. He will protect them no matter what. And what was it that their beloved grandfather always says? _Guilt and Conscience has no place in our line of work._

Conscience

Guilt

Two words he hopes he'll never meet. And why should he? Everything he does is for the good of all the persons that he loves! If a father lost his job because of his decisions, if a man had to leave those he loves behind because of the steps that he took, if a woman had to be a widow and if a child had to be an orphan because of everything he does, he wouldn't care. They were merely casualties of his war against fate and time. Because no war can be won without casualties. Someone had to be the **sacrifice.**

And if someone would ask him why he does the things that he did? His answer would be simple. **Because they became too close to him. **And losing someone close to you had to be the worst kind of experience he could never hope to achieve.

And tomorrow…

Tomorrow, he has to take another set of challenges; another set of decisions, another mask to wear, another set of things to accomplish that would ultimately add up to the victory of the Clan against time and nature. And he promised himself that this time around... would be his last.

After this time… after this **one** _**final** _mission, the Clan would have already established itself firmly in the society, never to fall again. Only then could his goal in life be complete. The Clan and everything else close to it will stand against time, nature and everything else that fate will hurl against it, but he's certain that the Clan will never fall, would never collapse against its incessant battle against all odds. And when he is sure that the Clan had achieved that… only then would he welcome death with open his arms.

His work is done… And besides hasn't somebody said that no one lacks a good reason for suicide?

Eying the amethyst colored liquid in his hands, memories came upon him like a flash flood, drowning him and his unprepared mind. Roaring in anger he threw the bottle and smiled crudely as it smashed at the wall staining it in the process, but first he had a score to settle.

Revenge would be sweet. Very sweet indeed. He scoffed lightly as he walked behind the counter of the bar, took another clear glass from one of the centuries old cabinets behind him, took a few cubes of ice in one of the steel pitchers inside the refrigerator beside him and pulled a full bottle of absinthe and sugar cube bowl behind a row of wine glass. Once the sugar cube was fully soaked with absinthe, he placed it in a perforated spoon atop a glass of water, then after a while, he heated it with a lighter watching in fascination as it trickled down, staining and swirling the water below it. He drank it eagerly, already feeling its effects on his body.

Revenge would be sweet… And like a wine, it would be sweeter when it's old.

_Revenge is a dish best served cold._

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Malik sighed while caressing a tan smooth skin so much like his own. Leaning forward, he gently kissed the sleeping boy's cheek while his hands roam around the younger man's lean chest. How he loves this boy. Turning up to kiss the other boy's forehead, he didn't notice the appearance of his cousin Bakura until the older boy announced himself with a soft cough.

Turning around and glaring at the new comer, Malik faintly blanched but he recovered himself quickly and managed to hiss out, "What the fuck are you doing here Bakura, and at this time?" he quickly added the last part after stealing a look at the digital clock atop the old bedside table inside his brother's room.

To his surprise, Bakura softly snickered which resulted to him glaring more at the white-haired teen. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about it."

"Forgotten about what?" The last part came out in a hush tone as he noticed that his younger brother had moved in his sleep as if coming to awareness. When he looked back at his other companion inside the room, he caught Bakura staring at him with a strange glint in his eyes.

"Don't do that, you're creeping me." Malik whispered.

"You better wake him up and get ready, tell Marik that-," His sentence was interrupted by a soft voice coming from behind Marik.

Bakura smirked slightly, "Looks like sleeping beauty's awake." He said nodding to Malik's direction.

"So, what do you want to tell me?" Marik asked as he stretched his muscles like a cat regarding the man, unaware of the fact that he's currently nude with only the satin sheets of his bed to cover him.

"Simple, behave and for god's sakes, get dressed properly for once." Bakura said, saying the last word a little bit louder. "Malik," He regarded the other blonde man who was looking at the other like a treasure, Bakura knows that look. "Whatever you do, do it quickly. Ryou and I don't want any delays."

"Whatever you say," Malik mumbled absentmindedly still looking at his brother with unsuppressed hunger.

Bakura shook his head one more time before heading out for the door and smirking as he caught Marik's words "Hey, what are saying about not dressing properly? And delays for what? What the fuck's suppose to happen today? Hey Bakura don't y-"

Ah, what a lovely family he has.

**AN: Please Review! This is a new job, and I need encouragement!**


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